Social Cognition and the Prefrontal Cortex

Background. A better understanding of the neural basis of social cognition including mindreading (or theory of mind) and empathy might help to explain some deficits in social functioning in people with schizophrenia. Our aim was to review neuroimaging and neuropsychological studies on social cognition, as they may shed light on the neural mechanisms of social cognition and its dysfunction in patients with schizophrenia.Method. A selective literature review was undertaken.Results. Neuroimaging and neuropsychological studies suggest convergence upon specific networks for mindreading and empathy (the temporal cortex, amygdala and the prefrontal cortex). The frontal lobe is likely to play a central role in enabling social cognition, but mindreading and empathic abilities may require relatively different weighting of subcomponents within the same frontal-temporal social cognition network.Conclusions. Disturbances in social cognition may represent an abnormal interaction between frontal lobe and its functionally connected cortical and subcortical areas. Future studies should seek to explore the heterogeneity of social dysfunction within schizophrenia.

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White Matter and Social Cognition

10.1101/179473 ◽

2017 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Yin Wang ◽

Athanasia Metoki ◽

Kylie H. Alm ◽

Ingrid R. Olson

Keyword(s):

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Social Cognition ◽

White Matter ◽

Theory Of Mind ◽

Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Cingulate Cortex ◽

Social Neuroscience ◽

Imaging Data ◽

Social Brain ◽

Face Area

AbstractThere is a growing consensus that social cognition and behavior emerge from interactions across distributed regions of the “social brain”. Social neuroscience has traditionally focused its attention on functional response properties of these gray matter networks and neglected the vital role of white matter (WM) connections in establishing such networks and their functions. In this article, we conduct a comprehensive review of prior research on structural connectivity in social neuroscience and highlight the importance of this literature in clarifying brain mechanisms of social cognition. We pay particular attention to the research on three key social processes: face processing, embodied cognition, and theory of mind, and their respective underlying neural networks. To fully identify and characterize the anatomical architecture of these networks, we further implement probabilistic tractography on a large sample of diffusion-weighted imaging data. The combination of an in-depth literature review and the empirical investigation gives us an unprecedented, well-defined landscape of WM pathways underlying major social brain networks. Finally, we discuss current problems in the field, outline suggestions for best practice in diffusion imaging data collection and analysis, and offer new directions for future research.AbbreviationsACCanterior cingulate cortexADaxial diffusivityAFarcuate fasciculusAIanterior insulaALSamyotrophic lateral sclerosisAMGamygdalaASDautism spectrum disordersATLanterior temporal lobeATRanterior thalamic radiationCCcorpus callosumCINGcingulum bundleCSTcortico-spinal tractDESdirect electrical stimulationdMPFCdorsal medial prefrontal cortexdMRIdiffusion-weighted MRIDPdevelopmental prosopagnosiaDTIdiffusion tensor imagingFAfractional anisotropyFFAfusiform face areaIFGinferior frontal gyrusIFOFinferior fronto-occipital fasciculusILFinferior longitudinal fasciculusIPLinferior parietal lobeMCImild cognitive impairmentMDmean diffusivityMPFCmedial prefrontal cortexMSmultiple sclerosisOFAoccipital face areaOFCorbitofrontal cortex face patchPCCposterior cingulate cortexPDParkinson’s diseasePPprogressive prosopagnosiaPreCprecuneusRDradial diffusivityROIregion-of-interestsMRIstructural MRISTSsuperior temporal sulcusTBSStract-based spatial statisticsToMTheory of MindTPJtemporo-parietal junctionUFuncinate fasciculusVBMvoxel based morphometryvMPFCventral medial prefrontal cortexWMwhite matter

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Neural mechanisms tracking popularity in real-world social networks

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.1511477112 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 112 (49) ◽

pp. 15072-15077 ◽

Cited By ~ 43

Author(s):

Noam Zerubavel ◽

Peter S. Bearman ◽

Jochen Weber ◽

Kevin N. Ochsner

Keyword(s):

Social Networks ◽

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Social Cognition ◽

Real World ◽

Mental States ◽

Temporoparietal Junction ◽

Enhanced Sensitivity ◽

The Face ◽

Group Members ◽

Group Member

Differences in popularity are a key aspect of status in virtually all human groups and shape social interactions within them. Little is known, however, about how we track and neurally represent others’ popularity. We addressed this question in two real-world social networks using sociometric methods to quantify popularity. Each group member (perceiver) viewed faces of every other group member (target) while whole-brain functional MRI data were collected. Independent functional localizer tasks were used to identify brain systems supporting affective valuation (ventromedial prefrontal cortex, ventral striatum, amygdala) and social cognition (dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, precuneus, temporoparietal junction), respectively. During the face-viewing task, activity in both types of neural systems tracked targets’ sociometric popularity, even when controlling for potential confounds. The target popularity–social cognition system relationship was mediated by valuation system activity, suggesting that observing popular individuals elicits value signals that facilitate understanding their mental states. The target popularity–valuation system relationship was strongest for popular perceivers, suggesting enhanced sensitivity to differences among other group members’ popularity. Popular group members also demonstrated greater interpersonal sensitivity by more accurately predicting how their own personalities were perceived by other individuals in the social network. These data offer insights into the mechanisms by which status guides social behavior.

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The posterior cerebellum and inconsistent trait implications when learning the sequence of actions

Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience ◽

10.1093/scan/nsab037 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Min Pu ◽

Qianying Ma ◽

Elien Heleven ◽

Naem Patemoshela Haihambo ◽

Frank Van Overwalle

Keyword(s):

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Social Cognition ◽

Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Personality Trait ◽

Confidence Level ◽

Temporal Order ◽

The Other ◽

High Level ◽

First Time ◽

Temporal Sequences

Abstract It has been proposed that the cerebellum contributes to social cognition. Based on the view that cerebellar internal models create predictions on motions and actions, we hypothesize that the posterior cerebellum supports identifying temporal sequences of persons’ actions as well as detecting inconsistent actions that violate the implied trait. Participants were required to memorize the temporal order of a set of sentences that implied a personality trait. Importantly, the sentence sets were designed in such a way that the first half of each set involved actions that were consistent with the same trait, while the other half was either consistent or inconsistent with that trait. As expected, we found robust posterior cerebellar activation when memorizing the order of the actions, irrespective of trait consistency, but more crucially also for actions implying an inconsistent trait in comparison to consistent trait actions. We also found that the medial prefrontal cortex and posterior cerebellum were associated with confidence level in retrieving the sequences. This study supports the hypothesis that the posterior cerebellum identifies and predicts the low-level temporal order of actions and demonstrates for the first time that this area is also involved in the high-level prediction of trait implications of those actions.

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